Ramiro Valdes

Ramiro Valdes Menendez (28 April 1932-) was Vice President of the Council of State of Cuba from 20 December 2009.

Biography
Ramiro Valdes Menendez was born in Artemisa, Havana, Cuba in 1932, and he became a member of Fidel Castro's communist revolutionary band. In 1953, he took part in the attack on the Moncada barracks at the start of the Cuban Revolution, and he was a founding member of the 26th of July Movement. In October 1965, he became a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Cuba, and he served as Interior Minister from 1961 to 1968 and from 1979 to 1985. He later served as director of national electronics, developing Cuba's telecom, software, and IT industry. Valdes supported the censorship of the internet to fight back against the United States' propaganda, and he was appointed Vice President of the Council of State in 2009.